A German wood paneling maker plans to open a $250 million manufacturing plant in South Carolina’s rural Clarendon County. Homanit announced Wednesday it will build its first United States manufacturing facility on 140 acres near the small community of Alcolu — population 425. The company pledged to employ 300 people in the area located off Interstate 95, about 40 miles north of its intersection with I-26. “This investment marks a significant milestone for our company, and we’re proud to become part of such a vibrant and forward-looking region,” Homanit Managing Director Fritz Homann said in a statement. “The area’s skilled workforce, strategic location and strong infrastructure make Clarendon County the ideal foundation for our next phase of growth in North America.” The announcement marks the largest single investment in Clarendon County economic development history, according to Central SC Alliance President Jason Giulietti.
Georgia-Pacific has announced it will permanently close its Cedar Springs containerboard mill in Georgia later this year, impacting approximately 535 employees. The company informed workers on May 14 that most positions at the site will be eliminated by August 1, 2025, with all roles eventually affected. While production will continue temporarily to meet existing customer commitments, the mill’s operations are set to wind down in the coming months. Georgia-Pacific cited multiple factors behind the decision, emphasizing that the mill could no longer competitively serve its customers in the long term. The company stressed that the closure is not a reflection of the employees’ performance. “Our focus now is to operate safely and support our employees through this transition,” the company stated, pledging to treat all affected workers with “dignity and respect.”
An American timber business owner who supports Donald Trump is grappling with unsold inventory and shrinking cash flow due to the ongoing trade war, as Washington’s punitive tariffs weigh heavily on his operations and push him to seek alternatives to the Chinese market. Brandon Arbogast, the owner of Valley Log Sales in Timberville, Virginia, has spent decades in the lumber industry, exporting premium Virginia timber, primarily to China. …Sitting on 120,000 to 130,000 U.S. dollars’ worth of unsold wood, Arbogast is contemplating selling some of his land to maintain cash flow. …As a self-identified Trump supporter, Arbogast is willing to endure the hardship, hoping that a resolution to the trade dispute will eventually bring relief. For now, his premium walnut logs, which are typically transformed into furniture, flooring, and kitchen cabinets, remain idle.
MINNESOTA — The Beltrami County Work Session held on May 6, 2025… featured discussions on a proposed $137 million investment to upgrade the West Fraser facility, which is crucial for both the mill’s future and the local economy.Jeremy Buck from West Fraser presented plans to modernize the mill, which has been operational since 1981 and still uses much of its original equipment. The proposed renovations aim to enhance energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact, with the potential to preserve approximately 32 direct jobs and support an estimated 500 indirect jobs in the community. The company has applied for assistance from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) through the Job Creation Fund, which requires a resolution of support from the county. …The next steps will involve further discussions on the budget and the resolution to support West Fraser’s investment.
A federal judge in Jackson, Mississippi, issued an order April 28 allowing a lawsuit by a newspaper publisher and lumber company against the Mississippi River Commission (MRC) to proceed. The lawsuit alleges a lack of transparency in meetings. The suit was originally filed in September 2024. Emmerich Newspapers Inc., which publishes dozens of publications across Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, sued the MRC over what it claimed were secret meetings where proper records were not kept and the public was not notified or admitted. Emmerich was joined as plaintiff by a lumber company that manages hundreds of acres alongside the Mississippi River. The lumber company claims the Corps of Engineers’ decisions on flood control, informed by advice from the MRC, adversely affect its properties. The judge’s decision allows the lawsuit to proceed without ruling on the merits of the allegations.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Andrew Kimball announced that Artimus and Phoenix Realty Group have been selected to build over 500 new mixed-income housing units along the waterfront on the north shore of Staten Island, with a quarter of the new units set aside for affordable housing. The development will be the largest mass timber residential project in New York City… advancing commitments in Mayor Adams’ “Green Economy Action Plan,” a roadmap to grow the city’s green economy, invests in jobs and sectors that help the city combat climate change, and positions New Yorkers to benefit from the nearly 400,000 projected “green-collar” jobs in New York City by 2040. Mayor Adams… “We are not only building the affordable homes New Yorkers need but using sustainable materials to reduce our carbon footprint and help turn New York City’s waterways into the ‘Harbor of the Future.’”
A metro Atlanta nonprofit is teaming up with college students to find the exact age of historic buildings using a unique area of study. While historical documents may say a building was constructed in a certain year, the wood used to create the structure could tell us a different story. Cobb Landmarks is using dendrochronology — the study of tree rings — to pinpoint when wood for metro Atlanta buildings was harvested for construction. Trevor Beemon, Cobb Landmarks’ executive director, said they are partnering with University of West Georgia students who, under the guidance of two professors, will take 12 to 15 samples from structures around metro Atlanta. …The partnership is “really the one chance” South Downtown has to learn about these buildings before they are redeveloped, Capps said. 
MARYLAND — After five years of work and many interim steps, Maryland became the sixth US state to pass extended producer responsibility legislation for paper and packaging, continuing the policy’s evolution in the country. Sent to the governor on April 7, SB 901 would direct a producer responsibility organization to set goals for post-consumer recycled content, recyclability, recycling and reuse rates, source reduction, composting rates and contamination reduction. However, it also builds on newer elements, such as a phased-in approach to reimbursement, seen last year in Minnesota’s law. …The American Forest and Paper Association has called the bill “misguided.” “EPR programs are helpful for materials that don’t have strong end markets or aren’t highly recycled,” the association wrote. “Paper is a highly recycled material with strong end markets.” …Any EPR program must fully and fairly credit our early and voluntary actions to increase recycling in Maryland and across the country.”
The first-ever 
Wildfires are burning through thousands of acres of forest in Northern Minnesota damaging buildings and forcing residents to evacuate their homes. The yet-to-be-contained Camp House fire, Jenkins Creek fire and Munger Shaw fire have a small accomplice to thank for their continued destruction: spruce budworms, a well-known pest that has terrorized Minnesota forests for at least half a century, killing trees and making them more susceptible to fire. The fires’ other helper? Humans. “Spruce budworm’s largest impact, in my opinion, is that it can help perpetuate dense stands of balsam fir on the landscape that are fire prone,” said Mike Reinikainen, a silviculture program consultant with the state’s Department of Natural Resources’ forestry division. Much of the area was infected by spruce budworms, whose infestations worsened the Greenwood fire near Isabella, Minn. in 2021.
Washington, D.C. – Today, Representatives Ryan Zinke (R-MT-01) and Joe Neguse (D-CO-02) introduced the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program Reauthorization Act of 2025, which would extend and expand a successful program focused on reducing wildfire risk, restoring forest health, and supporting rural economies through proven, locally driven strategies. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Originally authorized in 2009, the CFLR program is a model of how communities, industry partners, landowners, and local governments can work together to improve forest conditions and prevent catastrophic wildfires. In its first decade, CFLR projects treated and restored 5.7 million acres of forest, improved 1,000 miles of trails, and maintained over 25,000 miles of forest roads helping keep public lands open and safe.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) introduced two bills to protect wilderness in Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, and Bath counties. “We are lucky to have such beautiful natural resources in Virginia, and we need to do more to ensure that these lands are protected for future generations,” said the senators. “We’re proud to introduce this legislation to preserve wilderness in Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, and Bath counties, protect wildlife, and support local economies that depend on tourism and outdoor recreation.” These additions were recommended by the U.S. Forest Service in 2014 and endorsed by members of the George Washington National Forest Stakeholder Collaborative, a group of forest users who work together on acceptable locations in the George Washington National Forest for wilderness, timber harvest, trails, and other uses. In 2023, the tourism economy directly employed 7,562 people and generated $842.5 million in expenditures in [these areas].
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A debate continues among scientists over whether tree composition in forests in eastern North American historically have been influenced more by climate or by cultural burning, which is the intentional and controlled use of fire by Indigenous people to manage their environment. A new study of southern New England forests … lends credence to the cultural burning hypothesis, suggesting that fire-tolerant vegetation — oak, hickory and pine — were significantly more abundant near Indigenous settlements over the last 5,000 years. “The results of this study strongly suggest that Native Americans extensively use fire and other disturbances such as land clearing for villages, agriculture and trails, and both directly and indirectly promoted fire-adapted trees,” said study co-author Marc Abrams, Penn State professor emeritus. “These trees were very important to the Native American diet because of the mast — nuts and acorns — they produced.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE yield tax on timber, often called the “timber tax,” was established in 1949 and has been locally collected to offset property taxes ever since. …The yield tax on timber has been an essential tool for promoting conservation, helping the timber industry, and stabilizing municipal revenues in heavily timbered towns. …The legislation would, “…encourage conservation of the forest resources of [New Hampshire] by releasing growing wood and timber from the yearly burden of local property taxes and substituting a yield tax….” The timber tax has been very effective achieving these goals… The current policy strikes an excellent balance between industry and conservation. There is a new government-promoted industry threatening New Hampshire’s timber industry, loggers, timber processors, and heavily timbered towns that depend on timber tax revenues. Carbon credits.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — 
